Cyberbully cases rally Clarkstown parents

District investigates posts; some fear attacks may lead to suicide

Apr. 17, 2013

Written by

Hema Easley

Concerned Clarkstown parents have been calling school officials and each other over fears about rising instances of cyberbullying, which has led to a police investigation and online comments about suicide.

Recent posts on ask.fm, a website popular with 11- to 14-year-olds that allows for anonymous postings, has alarmed many parents. The posts are vicious, use vulgar language and focus on one Clarkstown student’s appearance and personality.

“(She) is a unpopular selfish (expletive) who thinks she’s cool ... don’t give a (expletive) if she’s being bullied ... you’ll never know who I am,” one post read.

“ Looks like a whale that washed up on the shore ... hahaha,” the poster added later.

Other posters rushed to the student’s defense, describing her as gorgeous and lovable, and telling the anonymous poster that hurtful words could lead to bad consequences. “People like you kill innocent children everyday. People (commit) suicide because of the hateful words.”

Those thoughts were on Denise Weiss’ mind when she posted comments on Clarkstown Parents to Save our Schools’ Facebook page, referring to two young women in California and Canada — Audrie Pott and Rehtaeh Parsons — who killed themselves after they were tormented and humiliated on social media.

“We are so passionate about keeping our children safe from a mad man with a gun, but we are failing to be proactive about real dangers that our children face every day, right in the palm of their own hands,” she wrote. “I am hoping it doesn’t take a tragedy in Clarkstown for parents to become aware of what is going on in their children’s world, and am willing to do whatever I can to prevent our kids from suffering the same fate as Audrie Potts and Rehtaeh Parsons.”

Felix Festa Middle School Principal Dianne Basso said an investigation was continuing and the school was taking the situation very seriously.

“If cyberbullying is taking place in this district, it will be addressed,” school board member Wendy Adolff said. “The children will be dealt with accordingly. If this is brought to the board, we will act on it.”

(Page 2 of 2)

The incident was just the latest case of cyberbullying, parents said. Earlier this month, Superintendent of Schools J. Thomas Morton sent a letter to parents saying police were investigating inappropriate social media messages and asked them to monitor their children’s use of cellphones, tablets, laptop and desktop computers, and their access to social media sites.

“I’m very concerned because I’m reading on the news all the time that kids who can’t handle this are committing suicide,” Robert Kurkela of New City said. “We have to prevent a tragedy now when we have the chance. We have to find out who is cyberbullying our kids and end it. We can’t let this happen.”

Clarkstown police are investigating another situation in which it is alleged a student was threatened on an online post.

Police were informed of the post after the threat timeline had passed.

They think it was a prank.

“We are trying to play catch-up with them. It’s a tough battle to fight,” said Sgt. Christopher Goodyear of the Clarkstown Police Department, describing the challenge of trying to find the identity of anonymous posters, many of whom are much savvier technologically than local authorities.

Morton said he was aware of concerns about cyberbullying.

“Anything that happens in terms of cyberbullying, the principals handle very well,” he said. “The number of items I’ve heard about is relatively small.”